MPs round up on George Osborne for 'vile' comments about Theresa May

LONDON — George Osborne has been criticised by several MPs after reportedly telling colleagues that he would not rest until Prime Minister Theresa May was “chopped up in bags in my freezer.”

The former chancellor’s remarks were revealed in a feature by Esquire magazine, who said that he made the comments to “more than one person” at the Evening Standard newspaper, which he now edits.

Since taking control of the London paper in May, Osborne has launched scathing attacks against the prime minister and her Brexit agenda. Following the June general election, Osborne described May as a “dead woman walking” and compared her to the “living dead in a second-rate horror film.”

The former MP for Tatton was axed as chancellor by May when she succeeded his close friend David Cameron as prime minister last year following the Brexit referendum. Osborne has since claimed that May told him he needed ” get to know his party better” when she informed him of his sacking.

The former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Times newspaper that Osborne’s macabre comments about the prime minister were irresponsible while women in public life faced “vile abuse.”

Conservative MP Maria Miller, the head of the women and equalities select committee, said: “We need to debate with facts not vile personal abuse.”

Another Tory MP, Nadine Dorries, who has criticised Osborne in the past for being an “arrogant posh boy” said that it was “a brief insight into how his mind works and always has.”

Nick Timothy, who was May’s former co-chief of staff before resigning after the election sarcastically tweeted: “Not sure why he worries people think he’s an arsehole.”

Osborne also told Esquire that he felt the Evening Standard under his editorship could appeal to those in the center ground of British politics.

He said: “Most newspapers are very partisan. I’m sticking it to the Corbynista left and the hard-Brexit right. I feel that millions of people are in that space, and feel unrepresented.”

The former chancellor under David Cameron added: “I’m paid to produce a paper that has attitude and gives voice to people whose voices are not being heard, and I don’t really give a damn if some are offended by that.”

When asked about Osborne’s alleged comments, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “The contents of the former chancellor’s freezer are not a matter for me.”